Demon's Souls is an action RPG developed by From Software, with assistance by SCE Japan Studio, published by Atlus. It's a console exclusive for the Playstation 3, released in America in 2009. The Dark Souls series acts as a spiritual successor to Demon's. Is the original any good, or is the sequel where it all gets going?
Story: Story is a difficult thing to talk about with Demon's Souls, because I know I'm probably getting a lot of it wrong. The reason why, is because Demon's uses a very unique method of telling its story. There's very few cut-scenes in the game, the few there being very cryptic, and the NPCs only tell specific, small parts of the world's back-story. Instead of gigantic info-dumps, you piece together the story yourself with item descriptions, enemy behaviors, and the few bits of cryptic dialogue you encounter. Personally, I love this kind of story-telling, but this isn't for everyone. If you don't actively search out the story behind everything, you can easily miss huge chunks of story. That said, you'll generally know where you are and the basics of what is going on. So, were are you, and what is going on? In as few words as possible, the basics of the plot are as follows: The kingdom of Boletaria has become victim of a horrible plague of demons. A deep grey fog has overtaken the land, corrupting those living there into demonic monstrosities. These Demon's possess powerful Souls, and further their strength by devouring the Souls of humans. The fog keeps those inside from escaping, and from others getting in. However, eventually people were able to penetrate the fog, and begin the fight against demonkind. You are one of these Demon Slayers, and man or woman entering the fog for their own reasons. Do you wish to save the land? Do you covet the power of demons? It's up to you to decide with path you walk down.
While the story may not be the best ever written, it is delivered in a very cool, different way. The characters help greatly in making you care about the story. They really feel like people, all clearly having their own reasons for being there, and pursuing their own goals and aspirations in different ways. They are all very compelling, and portray the different aspects of the world quite well. It's hard for me list the best, but I will say the Maiden in Black was my favorite character. She is the one who levels you up. She is the most important companion in your journey, and I really cared about her from the get-go. That made the ending much more effective, and made the final choice harder to make. However, the story isn't the best it could be. The item descriptions we learn by can be quite vague on a lot of things, and while that leaves you to fill in the blanks yourself, it can be really annoying at times. Many people will be turned off by this kind of storytelling. From Software got much better at this for Dark Souls, but Demon's leaves a bit to be desired. I give story 8.5/10.
Gameplay: So, the story is cool and all, but if the game needs to play well too. Thankfully, it plays very, very well. The Souls games have become famed for their unique control schemes, for very good reason. First off, the game is third-person. Good thing, as it allows you to peak around corners to asses possible threats. Think of the bumpers and triggers as your hands, R1 and R2 is your right hand, L1 and L2 is your left. Circle is a roll, triangle makes you hold your right-hand weapon in both hands, square uses items. Some people have lots of trouble getting used to the controls, but once you get a handle on them, it's awesome. You also have two "forms" for lack of word. Soul form, and human form. In Souls form, you have half of your health. If you are in human form you have your whole health bar, but you get into soul form. The other facet of the Demon's Souls gameplay is it's difficulty. If you've heard one thing about Demon's Souls, it's probably this.
The Soul series is well-known as a callback to the old days of gaming. It doesn't baby you, it doesn't hold your hand, it demands your attention. If you pay attention to your environment, take cues from enemy behavior, and play it safe, you should make it out okay. Your central hub in the area is the aptly named Nexus. It acts as a, well, nexus connecting to all the areas of the game via the "archstones". Whenever you beat a boss in the game, a new checkpoint will open up, allowing you to progress without having to go back to the beginning of the entire area again. The Nexus is also where you will be storing your items, learning new spells and miracles, and level up. The Nexus is your one safe haven. A well needed reprieve from the evils lurking behind the archstones. The leveling system is essentially the standard RPG convention. Your stats basically determine what weapons and armor you can use, and some weapons have specific requirements you must meet in order to hold, and become stronger with specific stats. Your spells are in two categories, miracles and magic. Miracles are more defensive, healing, buffs, curing poison, etc. Magic, on the other hand, is very offensive, fireballs, magic spears, etc. Finding a good balance of the stats you want can be difficult, so it may be a good idea to know what kind of weapons you want to use right when you start up. Invasions also add spice to the game. Players can invade other games and try to kill the host, taking their souls and humanity. Invading isn't the only way to interact with other players. You can assist each other as well. If you are in Soul form, you can put a sign on the ground, and if a human player comes across it, they can summon It adds a new layer of tension when you're in human form. Also unlike most modern games, the bosses are the highlight in this game. SO many memorable moments in this game fighting bosses, some of my favorite being The Penetrator, The Old Monk, and Maiden Astrea, and there is many more. A lot of your skills dealing with stats, as well as the game itself will be honed over multiple playthroughs.That's one thing Demon's does exceptionally well at, replayability. I immediately wanted to play through the game again once I finished it. It left a huge void after playing it, I just wanted more.
That said, it's not perfect. The bosses are usually the highlight, but there are a few really terrible bosses. The Dragon God is the absolute worst boss in a Souls game. I hate it, it's not fun, it's the only boss I had to look up a guide to beat it. It sucks. End of story. Other than that, the world tendency system is really obnoxious and obtuse. It's very hard to describe, but I'll try my best. Now, there's white world tendency, and black world tendency. White is the "good" side, it increases when you kill invaders or bosses. Black world tendency is the "bad" side, it's obtained by dying in human form, or invading other worlds. These tendencies are different for every level. Sometimes, having white tendency will open a path to an item you couldn't get other wise. Black tendency makes new monsters spawn in some locations, helping you get more loot. It's really complicated, and it's annoying to keep track of. I'd rather the things you get from world tendency system be side-quests or something instead, as you can ruin your chances at getting that item you want forever by taking a wrong step on a platform. While that is annoying, it doesn't harm the gameplay experience too much. The game itself is so good, and you end up looking past these flaws easily. I give gameplay 9/10.
Graphics: The game looks pretty good, with a (mostly) solid frame-rate, and really good art design. The environments are desolate, it really helps you feel isolated. The characters are made even better with their unique character designs, Maiden in Black being the best of the NPCs. The bosses are the highlight of the design. Even bosses I hate, like the Dragon God, look great, and make for memorable encounters. All the armors, few as they may be, are really cool. My favorite set was the Dark Silver armor. Although, the frame-rate had the tendency to chug from time-to-time, and repeated textures could be obnoxious at times. I give graphics 8.5/10
Sound: The sound in this game is amazing. The voice actors are mostly people I haven't heard in games much at all, it adds a lot to the characters not having heard them in tons of other things. The Maiden in Black particularly sounded great. The music is really amazing, I even had some of my best moments in Souls games from music alone. In particular, the theme of the Nexus, as well as Maiden Astrea were fantastic. Amazing sound quality, just fantastic in nearly all respects. However, a few bosses share the same music theme, and that put a damper on my enjoyment, ever so slightly. Sound gets 9.5/10.
Overall: Demon's Souls is a fantastic video game. There's a reason that it kick-started the Souls series, as from gameplay, story, design, and audio perspectives, it's all great. A few problems keep it from perfection in all respects, but when it comes together, it's truly glorious. Some of the greatest satisfaction I've ever had in a video game. I give Demon's Souls 8.9/10.